4 Years Later
by applestoables23
Summary: This is a fanfic that focuses on the lives of Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hannah four years after season three part B. You will learn what happened four years ago and how it effects their lives now. Each character is dealing with their own struggles in life but one common enemy brings the four girls back together. "A" has not sent a cryptic text in four years till three days ago.
1. Spencer

**4 Years Later**

A/N: So, I have not written a fanfic in a super long time and have never written a Pretty Little Liar's fanfic but I was on a road trip not to long ago and for some reason i do my best thinking in the car. So, I thought it would be a cool idea if in season four the PLL writers skip 4 year, cause honestly what TV show successfully did "the college years," plus it coincides with the season number so that's cool too. Anyway, i skipped over season three and will string in information on what happened in season 3 through the chapters. Some of this will be Spoiler/ Speculation based so don't read if you don't want hints on whats going to happen in season 3. Also, just based on how much i wrote in the first chapter, this will be a very long fanfic over a long period of time. Though, i will try to write a chapter weekly. My writing style is a bit mixed, sometimes i will write mostly in paragraph form and sometimes i will write mostly dialog, it really depends on the character and situation. This is a All Characters fanfic but based mostly on Emily, Hannah, Spencer, and Aria. I will dive into some of the other characters lives as well though. I will try to incorporate minor characters, too but no zobies or dead people, sorry Maya fans. I will also bring in some new characters! Okay, Enjoy!

**Spencer**

Had it not been for the large metal detectors at the door and being extensively padded down by a female guard Spencer would have thought she were in a hospital. The fluorescent white lights and the pneumonia smell made her feel like she was back at Rosewood Memorial. The female guard who had padded her down noticed the face Spencer made as she breathed in the air.

"Sorry, there's a bug going around the prison, it was either this or vomit." The guard said crudely. Spencer could only hope the man she was here to see got this bug the guard spoke of. Ellansburg Prison had a bad reputation for doing everything short of beating their prisoners to make them feel some sort of discomfort. Spencer had no doubt this "bug" was not at all accidental. However, she could not blame them for their extreme measures; Ellansburg did house the most dangerous criminals in Pennsylvania and this now included the man she once loved.

During her senior year of high school she had lost the one person who she could trust to never lie to her. When she found out that he had been lying to her the whole time she felt completely empty. The guy she loved was the cause of so much pain. Four years ago it hurt her to love him and it hurt her even more not to love him. Now Spencer was stronger and a whole lot smarter, her feelings for him were gone and her memories of him were forever tainted.

Spencer sat down on the same uncomfortable metal chair that she had sat on every time she came to the prison. After _all_ the arrests happened four years ago Spencer wanted answers. She practically lived at the Rosewood Police Department for the first couple months after "The A Team" were seemingly gone for good. Partly because it seemed too good to be true and partly because she did not want to believe it was true. She was happy to not be looking over her shoulder all the time, but knowing that not only one but_ two_ people she loved were involved in making her and her friends lives a living hell was almost worse than the living hell itself.

Spencer had gone to every court case, spoken to every lawyer, searched through all the arrest records to try to find information she knew she could only get from _five people_, all of whom were not talking. They were also all in different prisons which made holding her job as a paralegal in Harrington difficult, but for her, manageable. The other girls did not have as much to do with this type of stuff. They were supportive and they helped when they could but with "A" being gone and the whole "A" team in prison they were able to move on with their lives. However, Spencer wanted more, she wanted to know why, why would these people go through so much trouble to hurt them. A normal psychopath that hates someone just kills them. The "A" team was far worse; Their plan was not to kill them, their plan was to make the girls suffer as much a possible and have to live with that pain for the rest of their lives, and Spencer was living with that pain in so many ways.

Walking into the room on the other side of the glass was her first love, Toby. Since the last time she saw him, which was about four months ago, he had grown a scruffy beard and his hair was a tad bit shaggier. His eyes were cold like they had been the night he was arrested and every day since. It was like he had been wearing a mask their whole relationship and when the police took him away that _unforgettable night _he was able to take off the mask. As he sat down he avoided her eye contact as much as possible, but she was burning a whole through his forehead with her eyes so contact was inevitable. He stopped picking up the phone connected to the side of the wall several visits ago. In Spencer's first visits she yelled, screamed, cried, and begged for any kind of response from him. Not one visit has gone by where he has said a word or even gestured or nodded. He always remained stone faced and silent. Every visit Spencer would pick up the phone and wait to see if he would do the same. If he refused to pick the phone up she would write on a piece of paper given to her by the guard. This time she didn't need to do either. Spencer pulled her cell phone out of her purse and held it to the glass. The text she showed to Toby read " Long time, No see, Spencer. Well, i've got my eye on you now and Toby won't save you this time" –A.

For the first time Toby was the first to pick up the phone. Spencer followed his actions in pure shock. She hoped this meant he would talk to her but she dared not get her hopes up. When the visits first started Toby would have the phone to his ear and remain completely silent, Spencer worried this time would be no different. Toby's brow was furrowed and Spencer did not know if it was in anger or just because he was deep in thought. She used to be able to read him so well, but now he was a complete mystery to her. As Toby's mouth started to move Spencer's heart skipped a beat. She was so overwhelmed that she did not know if she was going to be able to comprehend what he was saying. Part of her was so excited because she secretly wished the words to come out of his mouth would be "This is all a mistake, Spence. I love you," but the majority of her excitement came from finally possibly getting some answers to this mystery that she had dedicated her life to. The other girls accepted "A" was gone for good but Spencer knew better. Three days ago the text from "A" confirmed her fears and she has not gotten much sleep since. The other girls got texts as well and she told them she would be in Rosewood in two days, the prison was just a quick pit stop. The cheap hotels she had been staying in didn't help her sleep situation much. However, her lack of sleep was not weighing on her now and the waiting for Toby to say something seemed longer than the sleepless nights she's had. Toby look down at the table beneath him, as if he would find the proper words there. When he looked up there was the slightest glimpse of the old Toby, this nearly brought tears to her eyes but she was able to restrain herself. He was look at her making direct eye contact "Be Careful" He said, quickly hanging up the phone and raising his hand for the guard to take him back to his cell.

Before Toby was able to escape, Spencer made sure he saw her words even if he could not hear them. "That's It!?" She said. "What do you think I have been doing for the past four years!" She yelled. "You can burn in hell, Toby!" she said banging on the glass. Spencer's life had been full of security measures and precautions, she had more locks and dead bolts on her apartment door than the super would even allow. She had a three year old German Shepard named Roy that would bark his head off every time someone came to the door and she made friends with some guys who worked for the Harrington Police Department, but Toby was telling her to be careful? However, she knew Toby was right, all the security in the world could not keep "A" out of her life. She walked out of the prison in tears, but not tears of sadness, they were tears of anger and fear. She promised herself years ago she would never again cry sad tears for Toby Cavanaugh.


	2. Emily

**4 years later**

A/N: Okay, so this chapter has quite a bit of fluff and my attempt at humor but it's as long as it is because it has information that will be important later on….so pay attention. I know there's a lot of people out there who hate Paige, soo this may not be the fanfic for you because she is not going to be the "villain" in this story. However, I'm going to try to not make her a major, major, character except in this chapter, but she is Emily's friend and Hannah's friend and a big part of the town so she will have a role. Hannah's chapter will be up next Thursday…hopefully. So, I hope you enjoy and if you have any critiques, please share. Enjoy!

**Emily**

As Emily read the message on her cell phone she rubbed the 3yr sober chip that was always tucked nicely in her jeans pocket. "You we're always the weakest of the four, don't start thinking your strong now because I'm stronger than ever and I will win" –A. Emily hadn't felt this weak in a very long time, but when she read this it became hard to even breathe. "A" was back and all of her old vulnerabilities flooded back to her.

Her phone rang and she jumped; she looked at the caller, rolling her eye she pushed the "ignore" button. Emily looked around the Café and a since of pride overwhelmed her, she than took her hand off the chip and continued to work. At the end of her senior year Emily informed her parents that she did not want to go to college, this did not go over well. Her parents were angry and insisted that she at least go to Hollis College. She told them that she did not know what she wanted to do but she knew college was not the answer for her, at least not at that time. Emily had just experienced the worst _events_ in her life and the last thing she was thinking about was college. With no direction and a whole lot of anger she had for what "A" had turned her life into; alcohol became her way to cope with everything. When she drank the pain and anger she felt became num and everything seemed to not matter as much anymore.

Had it not been for Hannah and Paige she would still be an unfocused drunk with no future. Through much persuasion, a whole lot of yelling, and even more tears, they convinced her that she had a problem and needed to go to rehab. Unfortunately, this took a toll on Paige and Emily's relationship and as hard as it was to admit, she knew Paige deserved more than Emily could give her. They still maintain a great friendship and they still loved each other, they are just not in love with each other anymore. Rehab helped Emily deal with the issues she was trying to num and even though it was extremely hard, it was what she needed. Before rehab Emily felt like everything she was feeling was small in comparison to what everyone else was dealing with. When she lost Toby as a friend she felt hurt and betrayed but Spencer was hurting more so she held her feelings in. When her dad was killed in Iraq she hurt more than words could describe, but her mother was hurting more so she held her pain in. _That unforgettable night at the lake_ she lost people close to her but the others were hurting worse, so she held it _all_ in.

When Ella and Zack got married and moved to Paris a whole new opportunity opened up for Emily that months prior seem like an unimaginable dream. Zack informed her that he was selling The Brew and would lower the price greatly if she would consider buying it. After getting out of rehab and having to beg for her job back, Emily worked extra hard at the Brew and even expressed interest in running a business. Zack took her under his wing and taught her everything he knew. When Zack gave her the offer to buy The Brew she gladly accepted. With her parents blessing, she used the money they had been saving for her college to buy it. Since owning The Brew, Emily has added a live music night and also remodeled a bit to make the place her own. She change the name to The Purple Heart in honor of her father's passing.

Emily's phone rang again, before she had a chance to look at who it was her baker, Jahiem, yelled from the kitchen.

"Answer it! You cannot avoid an angry woman, two and a half ex-wives has taught me this much," he said with his Jamaican accent.

Jahiem walked to the front counter where Emily was and peered over her shoulder.

"Two and a half ex-wives, Jahiem?" Emily questioned looking up at him.

"Oh yes, my second wife, she was tiny little thing, but meaner than a rabid dog she was." Jahiem said seriously. "The smaller the women the meaner they are, they have no room for all the anger now do they!" He said with a chuckle.

Emily shook her head, "Well, I have no tiny women angry at me yet, so I think I'm good" Emily said laughing. "Anyway, it's just Paige," She said before answering the phone.

"Oh yes, just Paige, that one was never angry," He said sarcastically walking back into the kitchen. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Paige what's up?" Emily said casually.

"Nothing much, just starving for one of Jahiem's awesome biscotti's, you busy right now?" Paige asked.

"Nope. Its three o'clock on a Tuesday, the only people here are me, Jahiem, and a table of senior citizens." Emily said in a blasé tone. Business was usually good, but at certain times of the day it got really slow. This is when Paige, Hannah, and occasionally Aria would stop by and check in on her. She knows what they are doing even if they wouldn't admit to it. They are overly-protective and fear she will have a bad day and start drinking again. However, it's not like this couldn't happen, or didn't already almost happen. Emily knows that she is an alcoholic and every day will be a struggle to remain sober but this time "A" will not cause her to fall.

"Alright, I'll be there in about ten minutes!" Paige said cheerfully. Emily used to think Paige was making up being hungry just to make sure she hadn't fallen off the wagon. Now she thinks Paige is a bottom-less pit that is always hungry and never stops eating.

About six minutes later the bell above the glass door chimed and Paige walked in. Her hair was in a tight bun and she was wearing her black Rosewood Police uniform. Paige had joined the Police academy two years after high school and has been working for the Rosewood Police Department for a year now. Emily saw it as the perfect job for her; she was always protective and just needed some way to channel her anger. After the whole Nate/Lyndon debacle, Paige started taking self-defense classes, which lead her to start boxing, which lead her to Officer Douglas who said she should consider going to the academy. So, in a way, being kidnapped helped Paige find her calling and become a better person.

"Dang Paige, did you have the sirens on all the way over here?" Emily said, surprised at how quick she got there.

"No, just not a lot of traffic today or crime for that matter, I've been doing paper work all day," Paige said with a sigh.

"It's defiantly a slow day in Rosewood," Emily said as she looked around the town from the window. She had a scary suspicion that this was the calm before the storm, and this storms name was hurricane "A". Emily walked over to Paige to give her a hug. This was not out of the norm for them, even though they were not together anymore; they both felt closeness for each other. Emily knew Paige had a dangerous job and since "A" was back she knew her own life has become more dangerous and anything could happen. She never wanted something to happen and have Paige think she didn't care for her.

"Paige is that a gun or are you just happy to see me?" Emily said laughing as she hugged Paige close patting the large, metal, object on the left side of her hip; Emily was trying to lighten the somewhat cryptic mood she felt.

"Neither, ya goof; that's my taser, the guns on the other side," Paige said smiling and shaking her head. As the hug broke Emily could tell by her face that Paige was happy she was making jokes again. This makes her dread having to tell her that "A" is back, but she knew Paige needed to be prepared in case "A" decided to target loved ones again. However, this didn't mean she had to tell Paige right away, maybe it was fear that Paige would do something crazy or maybe it was just having to relive the whole "A" nightmare, but Emily wanted to avoid telling her for as long as possible.

They set down at one of the many empty tables by the large window. "Ok, well, just don't shoot or taser Spencer when she get here," Emily told Paige putting an emphasis on the "or". Paige and Spencer had bad history and sometimes they were able to put it all behind them, like when they went to visit Emily in rehab, or at the _funerals._ However, any other time they fought like very pissed off cats and dogs. It wasn't that Spencer thought Paige was "A" or that Paige thought Spencer thought she was "A". Emily believed they fought so much because they were so much alike; stubborn, determined, and at times obsessive but generally good-hearted. However, if you told them that they were anything alike they would both look at you like you were crazy.

"Spencer's coming?" Paige asked as she became distracted while looking to her left with a huge smile appearing on her face. Jahiem walked out of the kitchen with a medium sized white plate with a delicious looking pastry placed in the middle.

"Enjoy, my dear," Jahiem said while placing the plate in front of Paige.

"Awe, Jahiem, you would be the only man I would ever marry." Paige said staring at the plate in excitement.

Emily rolled her eyes at Paige's fascination with the biscotti. "Back to you question, yes, Spencer will be in town for a few weeks, so play nice. Oh and the last thing Jahiem needs is a future ex-wife." Emily said the last part loud enough that Jahiem could hear it as he walked back into the kitchen.

"She is tall, it could work out!" Jahiem yelled from the kitchen with a chuckle.

"Yes, she is also gay with a girlfriend, so I think your only chance with her is if you never stopped cooking." Emily yelled back with a laugh. "By the way how is Annie?" Emily asked Paige who was digging in to her dessert aggressively. Annie was a reporter/writer who moved to Rosewood about 5 months after the _tragic night at the lake_, to do a story on the five "A" team member arrests. She's slim but not skinny, blond hair, green eyes, and a large tattoo running from the top of her left shoulder to right above her elbow. Annie interviewed several people including the four girls and Paige. Emily and the others had been interviewed before and it was always like they were digging for information that the girls didn't have or couldn't talk about. With Annie, she just sat down, and asked them what happened. They didn't tell her everything, but they felt comfortable telling her the difficult things to talk about. Annie seemed sympathetic when she talked to them and seemed to understand their pain. Annie decided to say in Rosewood, because what other town has stories like Rosewood does? Over time, Annie and Paige develop a strong friendship as Emily and Paige's relationship got weaker. When Paige and Emily finally broke up it took Paige a while to move on, but when she did Annie seemed like the perfect person to move on with. Paige and Annie have been living together for a little over a year and Emily is happy for them.

Paige finished her last bite before she answered. "She's good! She is still writing for the newspaper and she is writing for a online journal now, which gives her more creative freedoms and stuff." Paige said as she put another bite into her mouth.

"Paige, where do you put all this food, and why are you always so hungry." Emily asked watching Paige eat in amazement.

" I run two miles a day Em, I fight guys that are twice as big as me," Paige said bragging a bit. She then look down with embarrassment and sat in silence.

"What?" Emily asked quickly noticing there was something wrong. "Wait, your not…"

"What?" Paige asked wondering what Emily was suggesting.

"Pregnant?" Emily said slowly with a raised eye brow.

"No! How? No!" Paige said in shock of the mere thought."It just that I don't cook and Annie really doesn't cook, when we moved in together we never realized neither one of us was domestic, I can only handle so much Chinese takeout, Em ." Paige said with a tense laugh.

"Oh, Paige you had me worried." Emily said. "Well, of all the problem you could have, that is a very fixable one."

"Ok, Dr. Fields, fix my relationship," Paige said waiting with her arms crossed.

Emily gestured her index finger for Paige to come closer. Paige did as she was told with a skeptical look.

"Learn how to cook!" Emily said in a blunt tone.

"Gee, Thanks, im glad I didn't have to pay for that advice." Paige said rolling her eyes. "So, back to Spencer, she's going to be in town?"

"Don't start trying to escape now; she's still a few hours away." Emily said checking her watch. "Just try to be nice." She said sternly to Paige.

"Hey, it's not me that starts it, you know that!" Paige said in shock of what Emily was implying.

"You know what's funny; she says the exact same thing when I tell her to behave." Emily said laughing at Paige's angry expression.

Paige rolled her eyes at the suggestion that she and Spencer were alike.

Emily's phone rang and she looked at who was calling and again she pushed the ignore button.

Paige looked at the phone and the looked back up at Emily with a crooked smile like she knew something before she even had to ask.

"Who was that, Em?" Paige asked as Emily just shook her head and smiled.

"Why do I feel like I'm about to get a lecture?" Emily said as she read the expression on Paige.

"I'm not you mother, I'm not going to lecture you." Paige said as she paused. Emily waited for her to finish.

"But-?" Emily asked knowing there was something more.

"But I just think that you are trading in one addiction for another." Paige said quickly fearing Emily's reaction.

Emily laughed. "Ignoring my phone calls is hardly an addiction, Paige."

Paige rolled her eye, knowing Emily knew what she was talking about but was avoiding it. "No, but sleeping with random girls and avoiding their phone calls might be." Paige said pointedly. " I mean seriously, Em, when was the last time you were in a relationship that lasted for more than two weeks?"

"Hey, im twenty-two, I'm having fun and acting my age. You, Aria, and Hannah are the weird ones, who commits themselves to one person in their twenties?" Emily said shaking her head. Emily didn't want a relationship, she wanted to have fun for the first time in her life and that's what she was doing. She knew Paige was protective, but the way she saw it, this was none of Paige's business.

Ironically Emily's phone rang again and this time Paige picked it up off the table before Emily could.

"Paige, don't!" Emily pleaded as Paige picked up the phone.

Paige held her hand up. "It's fine" she said to Emily. As she was about to answer the call Paige saw the text message from "A".

"What's this?" Paige asked looking at the text message.

"I was going to tell you." Emily said not knowing if that was a lie or not. "I got the text a few days ago." She said waiting for a reaction.

Paige's face was a light shade of pink that usually meant she was angry. "Is it the real thing, it could be a prank, couldn't it?" Paige asked, the anger in her voice was mixed with fear.

"It feels like I felt before, I think it's the real thing but just in case Spencer is doing some digging." Emily told Paige who looked like she was about to jump out of her skin.

Paige nodded and stood up out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked fearing the answer. Paige had a quick temper and she was never the type to wait around and do nothing. Emily knew Paige could get herself killed even if she was a cop and carried a gun.

"Im going to Radley to get some answers, _she _knows everything and if she has another pawn out there working for her I'm going to find out who and beat the living—," Paige yelled before being interrupted by Paige.

"Paige stop! You don't know if it just a pawn or if it's the real "A" leader and he or she just never got caught." Emily said interrupting Paige's rage. "This could be really dangerous and you already have a _target_ on your back."

This seemed to make Paige come to her senses. "Well, what do we do then?" Paige asked desperately.

"We let Spencer go to Radley and get some answers, if she can." Emily said still using her calm voice because she was not sure if Paige was completely rational yet. "Anyways, It's her _sister_, if anyone can talk to her it's Spencer."

Paige knew this was true and left the café to go back to work.

As Emily went back to the counter to continue to work, she started to think of Spencer and how much pain she must have. Both her sister and her first love betrayed her, Emily wanted to make Spencer feel better when she got to Rosewood but how do you take away that kind of pain?


	3. Hanna

**4 Years Later**

**A/N: Ok, so sometime what I envision in my mind doesn't always translate that well in writing and this is an example of that. It's not that this is a bad chapter, it just didn't turn out as smooth as I would have liked it. I also am not a fan of flashbacks and don't do many so that was fairly new to me as well, but to tell the story the way I want to I accepted that I needed to do a flashback (possibly more to come). So, I thought I could either spend the next few days revising this chapter and then post it or post it now and possibly make some minor changes to it later. So, obviously I chose to do the later, mainly because I want to move on to the next chapters. QUICK PREVIEW: (Chapter 4: Aria) (Chapter 5: Spencer)(Chapter 6: Toby)….I may changeup the order but those should be the next few chapters if I don't change my mind lol. Anyway, Enjoy.**

**Hanna**

The wind was sweeping cold air around Hanna's body as she wrapped her coat around her more tightly to protect herself from the wind that was growing more furious. As the wind howled and the tree limbs whipped back and forth, Hanna looked to the grey sky above. As a child she learned, like most children, all loved ones that pass away end up somewhere in that sky that was now sprinkling rain lightly falling upon her blond hair. She looked away from the watery sky to focus her attention to the tombstone that was placed just a couple feet in front of her. The tombstone she was looking over was placed near the black iron fence that was positioned around the graveyard. Hanna was standing under an old, rather large tree that was just barely shielding her from the falling rain. She thought about the amount of people she knew who would be spending the rest of eternity in this graveyard, and it brought a tear to her eye. However, no death she had experience could compare to the death that happen four years ago today. Today was the anniversary of the death that turned her world up-side down. Hanna stood there in the rain, staring at the tombstone, thinking about how she lost the one person who had always been there for her.

_It was a Friday night and Hanna had made plans with Emily and Paige to have dinner with her and Caleb. After that night at the lake house, Paige and Caleb became good friends and if Emily and Hanna hadn't already been closer than sisters, they were now. Whenever Aria was busy with Ezra or Spencer was either studying or with Toby, the four would get together and talk about everything and absolutely nothing. Often, it would be Paige and Caleb watching whatever sports game or action movie that was on and Hanna and Emily endlessly making fun of said game or movie. Usually, they would have dinner at Hanna's house considering her mom often worked late and didn't get home until after ten most nights. On that night Emily had shown up with Paige and the three girls were waiting for Caleb. This tardiness was not unexpected; Caleb had been working at a computer store for a few months now and was often asked to close up. By now the four girls pretty much relied on Caleb to do the cooking and if they couldn't convince him to cook, ordering pizza was their last resort. While waiting for Caleb the girls sat and talked about school and other topics that were light, steering away from more serious topics. Hanna's phone buzzed and she looked down and her heart sank as she saw the text from "A." _

_Hanna's eyes welled up with tears as she stared at the phone, nearly crippled by the words she read across the screen. She let out a small gasp before coving her mouth to prevent anything much louder from escaping. Emily and Paige exchanged worried looks as Hanna appeared to be in a state of panic. "Hanna, what's wrong?" Paige asked but before Hanna could collect herself to answer that question, Emily had gently taken the phone out of Hanna's tight grip and started to read. "Someone you love knows too much, and unlike you Pretty little bitch's our secrets don't get out. Come to the lake if you want to see that person one last time." –A. _

"_Paige, call Caleb and keep calling him until he picks up!" Emily said seriously. Paige did as she was told without uttering a word. Emily stood up from the couch helping an almost catatonic Hannah up from her seat, while taking her phone out of her jean pocket with the other arm._

"_Who are you calling?" Hanna asked speaking for the first time directing her attention at Emily who was holding her by the arm to keep her steady. Hanna couldn't think of anyone but Caleb that would need to be called. "A" knew she loved him so much and he always seemed to be a target in "A's" game for that reason._

"_Aria and Spencer and anyone else I can think of," Emily said urgently pulling Hanna towards the door. Paige got up ready the follow the two girls to the car when she was stopped by Emily's hand on her shoulder._

_Emily had now let go of Hanna and was holding on to both of Paige's shoulders looking into her eyes. "Paige, I need you to stay here, get a hold of Caleb and then call the police." Emily said determined not to let her go with them, she knew Paige was as much of a target as Caleb was and she didn't want to risk Paige getting caught up in another "A" disaster. _

_Paige was shaking her head, with her phone still held to her ear, not wanting to have Emily anywhere near "A" without her, however, deep down she knew this battle was lost. With tears in her eyes fearing the worst, Paige nodded her head toward the door saying "Go" to Emily quickly, knowing valuable time was being lost. She just hoped this would not be the last words they spoke to each other._

_Emily ran out the door with Hanna, now alert enough to follow without having to be dragged. Hanna jumped into the passenger's seat of Emily's car as quick as she could. Emily backed out of the driveway nearly hitting a trash bin placed on the curb. Hanna stared out of the window feeling helpless as all she could do was wait to find out how "A" was going hurt her. Emily was going well beyond the speed limit and the lake still seemed like a century away. With every passing minute Hanna's heart began to race faster and faster. Emily looked over at Hanna, who had tears streaming down her face and was breathing extremely heavy, she grabbed on to Hanna's hand letting her hold on as tightly as she needed to. Emily said nothing to Hanna and Hanna said nothing to Emily, because there was honestly nothing they could say that would help any. Knowing of her impending doom, Hanna had never felt so much fear in her life. _

_They were half way to the lake and Hanna nearly jumped out of her skin when Emily's phone rang. Emily grabbed the phone with one hand and continued to steer with the other. _

"_It's Paige" Emily said to Hanna. Hanna didn't now weather to be relieved or even more terrified than she already was. Did this mean she got a hold of Caleb or that she found out something devastating? _

_Emily nodded her head and the faintest hint of a smile appeared across her face. Hanna's heart lightened a bit, but she still didn't know what to make out of this. This could mean Caleb was alive but someone else she loved was in danger._

"_Thank Paige, ok love you, bye." Emily said quickly hanging up the phone. Hanna looked over to Emily needing any kind of answer, even if it was bad news. _

"_Caleb's battery on his phone died, he showed up at your house and now both Paige and Caleb are on their way to the lake."Hanna released a sigh of relief. However, a new thought of dread entered her mind as they approached the lake._

"_Mom…." Hanna gasped thinking of the only person that she loved more than Caleb._

"_What?!" Emily asked as she slowed the car down to a complete halt reaching the west side of the lake._

"_We never called my mom, she's the only person it could be Em." Hanna said in panic through more tears than she thought she had._

_The two girls saw the lights at the same time, they were flashing on the other side of the lake. They both jumped out of the car and started running towards the flashing lights without a word. As they neared closer they could make out three police cars and an ambulance. It wasn't until they reached a police officer who was holding a megaphone looking upward, did they realize what was going on._

_On the bridge about fifteen feet above the lake were two figures. It was dark outside but the moonlight and the police car lights were just enough to make out the first figure. Ashley Marin had duct tape covering her mouth and both her arms and legs were tied with rope. She was struggling against the person behind her who was holding her tightly by the shoulders._

_Both Hanna and Emily's phones buzzed as they stared in shock at the bridge. "Welcome to the party ladies, this would be no fun without you."-A_

"_Do something, that's my mom up there!" Hanna yelled at the police officer who was holding the megaphone talking calmly and slowly to the figure behind Ashley. _

_The man looked away from the bridge to Hanna. "Ma'am, we are doing everything we can do to help your mother, just let us do our job." He said quickly before returning to the megaphone that he continued to talk into._

_The second figure on the bridge was just slightly taller than the women the figure was holding. Wearing a black hoodie and possibly a mask, it was near impossible to identify the figure. The black figure on the bridge attention never turned to the police officer that was calmly but urgently speaking in clichés. "You don't want to do this" "We can figure everything out" "There's no need for violence" "Everything will be okay, just do the right thing." The man continued to recycle these phrases but Hanna knew they were useless. This was not some teenage crush gone wrong or some bully victim out for revenge, this was more than that, this was "A". Hanna needed to do something or she knew how this would end. It took everything she had to move from the spot she was in; Emily held her back but Hanna's desperate struggle was too much for her. Hanna dodged people left and right trying to stop her from nearing the bridge. As she got closer and closer to the bridge Hanna noticed the figure holding her mother was shaking almost as much as she was. There were two police officer standing just in front of the bridge blocking Hanna from her mother._

"_Mom! I'm here; it's going to be okay." As the words escaped Hanna's mouth she realized how much she sounded like the police officer with the megaphone. _

"_Just let her go, this has nothing to do with her." Hanna said to the shaking figure knowing that couldn't be further from the truth. This had to do with everyone Hanna loved and if they knew something they shouldn't it just made them a bigger target._

_For a split second Hanna saw the figure stop shaking and she thought for just an intent that the figure was going to turn its head. A generic ring tone filled the quiet air and at first Hanna thought it was her phone until the figure put one of its long arms around her mother's neck, freeing up the other arm to reach for the cell phone in its back pocket._

_The figure said nothing into the phone; only a nod was visible from where Hanna was standing. Hanna felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped in fear, she turned around and Caleb was facing her._

_Caleb barely gave Hanna a glance before looking up at the two police officers. "What are you doing? Why aren't you doing anything?!" Caleb shouted at the officers._

_The taller officer shook his head, "We've got snipers surrounding the lake, if he does anything stupid were taking him down," said the officer smugly._

"_And what about my mom?!" Hanna cried out, tears streaming down her face._

"_Right now, were doing everything we can for your mom," The shorter officer said in a sympathetic tone._

_The figure put the cell phone back in its pocket, hands still shaking. The figure then pulled out an unidentifiable object out of the pocket of the hoodie. As the moonlight shined on the figures hand, Hanna now saw that that object was a 6 inch syringe and needle. A gasp escaped from Hanna, and she fought as hard as she could against the police officers to get to her mother. She expected to held back by Caleb until she realized her was fighting to get passed their barrier as well. However, several other police officers came up behind Hanna and Caleb pulling them backward._

"_Don't do this, Please!" Hanna begged as she was being pulled back._

_Hanna didn't know if it was her imagination but she could have sworn she heard a man's voice say, "I'm already dead"_

_And it was quick, within milliseconds there was a collective gasps from the crowd that had formed, a loud splash followed by a gun shot. Hanna's screams echoed and were to overbearing to contain. Caleb was holding her up from falling on the ground and through her watery eyes she saw her friends nearing her, their faces horrified. _

_The large crowd was about 20 feet to their left and Hanna hadn't notice them until she saw they were all pointing down at the same thing. There was a large rock sitting in the lake, half above water, half under water, and on top of this rock was a man getting ready to dive into the water. What was this? Hanna asked herself, was someone actually trying to save her mother, had they not lost hope like she had? Then Hanna's heart that was just lifted fell to the ground as gun shots far beyond the tree line went off and a pool of blood collected in the water by the rock where the man once stood._

Hanna was awoken out of her memory of that horrible night by a black umbrella appearing over her head. Caleb wrapped his other arm around Hanna's waist. He looked at her with his loving eyes and then looked down at tombstone. That night no one ever came out of that water alive. The figure on the bridge was shot in the neck but survived; _he _was arrested and is serving two consecutive life sentences. The man who dove in the water to save Ashley Marin's life, in turn losing his own, was not revealed to Hanna until three days later when they drained the lake. The person who shot that man disappeared into the forest but was caught by police while running out of the forest. The "A" team unraveled that night, but so did Hanna's life.

Hanna looked up at the sky that was now clear, the rain had stopped and Hanna laughed. Caleb chuckled as he folded up the umbrella that he had just got and smiled at the women he loved.

"Maybe there will be a rainbow," Caleb said looking down at Hanna as they both looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, I think mom would like that," Hanna said as she thought of how colorful and loving her mother was. Hanna then looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and lightly touched it with her other hand. Oh how she wished her mother could be here to see her get married.


	4. Aria

**4 years later**

**Sorry, its been so long since I've posted a chapter. Schools been crazy this last past week and the Sandy hit and I had family in NY and DC so that was a little scary. Anyway, ill try to post chapter's sooner. I don't know how I really feel about this chapter, it's kind of a side story from the main story which will be "What happened on the bridge" "Who was involved" and "Who is the new A". However, since I am sharing the lives of each character I figured Aria might as well have a dramatic storyline. Ok, enjoy. **

**Aria**

The smell of flowery air freshener was making Aria nauseous as she sat in the corner of the bathroom in her apartment. She never realized until this moment how long a few minutes could take. However, these moments were not like the ones you have while waiting in line at the grocery store, no, these were the kind of moments that could change her life forever. You see, Ezra was the only stable thing she had in her life; everything else was chaotic and in a weird way Aria loved her life like that. When she woke up in the morning she didn't know if she was going to paint or take a picture or hell, even fly across the country but no matter what she was doing or where she was, Ezra was there and the thought of losing him made her feel like she could shatter into a billion pieces.

She had her arms wrapped around her legs tightly as she sat huddled in the corner which was the only place on the earth she felt safe right now. Was she lying next to a corps in a wooden box? No. Was a crazy murderous person that went by the name "A" trying to kill her? Not at the moment. Yet after everything she has been through in her life, what is scaring her the most is something she is a fault for. She knew that this was the one thing that could rip her and Ezra apart and thinking about that made her feel like puking. However, that was not a unique feeling for the last couple weeks. She had been telling Ezra that she had the stomach flu, but she knew that excuse could only last so long. The pregnancy test on the counter was the key to what her future would look like. Aria knew it would take everything she had to leave her secure corner to get up and view her fate. Deep down, and yet not so deep down, Aria knew what that test was going to say and yet the need to validate her impending doom seemed necessary.

Aria had been sitting on the cold tile floor for so long her legs had begun to get numb. She found this a perfect opportunity to convince herself that she was paralyzed and it would be impossible for her to move from her spot. She looked at the time on her phone, Ezra was coming home with Malcolm at two o'clock and it was almost one-thirty. This made it seem impractical for her to spend the rest of her life on the bathroom floor. No, the world did not stop because she was slowly self-destructing.

After Aria's senior year of high school Ezra found out from Maggie that he had a son and also that Aria had been lying to him. He was angry, possibly angrier than she had ever seen him, but like everything else in their life together they got through it. Aria couldn't have been more proud of how Ezra stepped up when he found out about Malcolm. As much as Ezra's mother told him that this child would make him "unfocused" and ruin his life, he insisted on being the best father he could to the boy. Aria was even sometimes jealous of how good of a father Malcolm had, when all her own father did was disappoint her. The relationship she had with Byron was always shaky and with time it hadn't got any better.

Aria looked at the text message on her phone that she got from "A" a few days ago. "Aww, Little Aria's going to be a mother, too bad Ezra's not going to be a father…again. –A" Aria's biggest fear wasn't being a mother, sure that was scaring the shit out of her, but her biggest fear was that Ezra would never forgive her. Losing him would be like losing a part of herself and right now it would be the only part of herself that she liked. The guilt she felt over what happened that night cannot be explained in word, words seem way too small to explain how she feels right now. This is why no one knows about her indiscretions except her and the man she regretted so much running into that night. She thought about telling her four best friends, but uttering what she did out loud was more than she could handle. Before it came to her realization that she could be pregnant Aria thought she could just forget it ever happened. She knew he wouldn't tell able their fateful night together, after all, it held as many repercussions for him as it did her. Now she was trying to convince herself that the child she might (defiantly) be carrying could be Ezra's, but even she knew her life didn't work out like that. As horrible as she was feeling right now she could not ignore the humor in this, this whole thing started out with a surprise and it ended with an even bigger surprise.

_4 months ago_

_Aria was excited, she had just finished a painting of Ezra and Malcolm playing basketball and she couldn't wait to show them. At first Aria was a bit distant from Malcolm, partly because she wanted him to have a much time with Ezra as he could and partly because the thought of being anything close to a step mother at 17 scared the hell out of her. However, over the last three years she learned that she didn't have to take on a motherly role to have a relationship with the boy. Being his father's girlfriend seemed to take on its own role and she was happy to play it. Even though she knew that role may expand as her and Ezra's relationship evolved, she was content with where she was._

_Today was Ezra's day to pick up Malcolm at Maggie's and her fiancées house. Aria and Maggie's relationship was awkward at best. She didn't know if it was because it started with lies or because Maggie used to have a relationship with Ezra. However, Aria was betting on the latter, and it wasn't even so much that she had a relationship with him than it was that they had a connection that could not be broken. Aria loves Malcolm but she knew that Maggie and Ezra would be bound together for the rest of their lives because of him, and sometimes this made her a bit jealous. She knew that Ezra loved her though and that was just enough to make any jealously small and insignificant. _

_Aria was walking down the sidewalk with the large painting tucked under her left arm. She knew she probably looked ridicules to the other pedestrians walking, but she didn't care. Aria took a lot of pride in her art and unlike most artists she wasn't afraid to show it off. She had just finished the painting and was taking it to her agent in a few hours, but before anyone else saw it she wanted to show it to Ezra and Malcolm._

_While watching her paint a landscape one day, Malcolm asked her in a very shy, childlike manner if she could paint a picture of him one day. Aria gladly accepted the offer and went to the park with Ezra and Malcolm and started to sketch. She had never painted anything that had so much meaning to her so she took her time to make sure it was perfect. The painting took about three weeks finish, but when she was done the feelings of pride and accomplishment she had were grand. _

_Aria was so happy with the painting she felt like surprising Ezra and Malcolm at Maggie's and show them the finished product. She knew that the quality of the painting was good enough that once she gave it to her agent, Alex, it was going to go straight to the galleries and then it would be there for tons of people to see and buy. Aria wanted to give the original painting to Malcolm but her agent had been on her about spending so much time on something and then not getting any money for it. So she had decided that she was going to give the copy to Malcolm, but she defiantly wanted him to see the original first._

_The walk from Aria and Ezra's apartment to Maggie's house was quite a distance but Ezra had the car, be sides it was nice day and Aria didn't mind walking. As she finally neared Maggie's house she saw Ezra and Maggie sitting on the stoop. Curiosity came over Aria as she noticed that Maggie looked upset and near tears. Maggie had always seemed so upbeat all the time it was weird to see her looking so distraught, it was obvious something was wrong even from the distance at which Aria was. _

_The next thing that happened made Aria stop in her tracks. She felt her heart drop and her ability to breathe easily quickly disappeared. Maggie had leaned in and was kissing Ezra passionately. The pain Aria felt at the moment was very overwhelming. She dropped the painting in her left arm next to a building and started to run in the opposite direction. The only sensible thing to do right then was run, run as far away from this situation as she could. The emotions she was feeling varied from panic, sadness, anger, embarrassment, and fear. Did he love Maggie? Did Maggie love him? Was this the first time Ezra kissed someone else other than her while they were together? Were they sleeping together? Had he been cheating on her since he found out about Malcolm? All of these questions rushed through Aria's mind as she ran down the side walk. She could feel the eyes of other pedestrians on her as she ran in tears like a mad person and all she wanted to do is yell at all of them. She needed to hurt Ezra for how he was making her feel right now, for this pain he was putting her through._

_Aria ran and ran and ran some more until she was back at the apartment that she and Ezra shared. On the run she thought about breaking one of his coffee mugs (or all of them), or burning one of his precious books (or all of them) but neither one of these destructive acts would make her feel better or make him feel as bad as she was feeling right now._

_When Aria reached her apartment she saw Wesley sitting by her front door. _

"_Hey, I figured yall would be home by now, I really need to get a key ya know?" He said still not looking up at Aria's face. He looked up at Aria, who was still crying and stood up looking puzzled. "Aria, are you okay? Where's the kiddo? Oh my god, is he alright? Is Ezra okay, what the hell is going on—" he asked placing both hand on Aria shoulders. The flood of questions came to quick for Aria to give him an answer. She didn't know if it was the flood of emotions she was feeling or the need to hurt Ezra or how concerned and gentle Wesley was being but she put her hands on his face and pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss in which he returned and then quickly pulled back._

"_W-What are you doing, Aria?"He said in shock, trying to collect himself. As much as he was shocked by her actions and was trying to reject her advances, his arm still hadn't left her shoulders and his face was still very close to hers._

_Aria ignored his question and pulled him in for a longer and deeper kiss and this time he did not pull away from her. His hand traveled down her back and on to her hips as they continued to kiss. Aria took her hands off his face using one had to open the apartment door and the other to grab his shirt and pull him inside the apartment._

_He stopped just before the doorway, "I don't think I can do this, Aria, he's my brother!" He said out of breathe. Wesley was a good guy but right now Aria wished that some stranger had shown up at her door instead of him._

_Aria looked up at him; the tears on her face had dried up and her hair was a messed, but Wesley still looked like he was so attracted to her. She needed him to be with her so she could forget the pain she was feeling even if it was only for a while. She shook her hear "Its okay, me and Ezra are done….It okay." She said pulling him closer to her by his shirt._

This was as much as she was willing to remember of the events of that night. She told Wesley that Ezra would be home soon and that he needed to leave. When Ezra got home he was holding her painting in one hand and his cell phone in the other. The guilt she felt when she saw his face almost made her confess everything. Apparently he had been calling her for the last hour. He explained that Maggie's fiancée broke up with her and she kissed him but they instantly knew it was wrong. Ezra was being so honest and Aria had overreacted to an innocent situation. What she did to him was far worse than what he did, she wished that that whole day had never happened.

Aria stood up from her corner and slowly walked to the counter over to the pregnancy test. As she looked down at the results of the test she felt her stomach turn. "Shit!" she said to herself looking at the test. Aria is pregnant and she has no idea what she is going to do.

She looked at the time on her phone once more—ten till two o'clock. Aria rushed to put the test is the white plastic bag in the bathroom trash can, and then take it down to the dumpster. For right now at least this would stay between her, herself, and "A."


	5. Toby

**4 years later**

**Hey! So again I am sorry for my lack of posting but I promise once Thanksgiving/Christmas break hits it will be Chapterpalooza! So, this is probably my favorite chapter so far because if you haven't noticed I like to write a little bit dark, sad and twisty stuff and in my opinion Toby is the darkest, saddest, and twistyest of almost all the characters. Also I think there is sooooo much that could be done with his character and his character has so many elements as well, I really just hope that the writers of PLL don't go for the obvious, which I did "a little"….but you will see what I mean. So, I was going to put more into this chapter but decided that I didn't want to put too much info into one chapter, so if things like "the fight" Toby got into seem unfinished, I plan to pick that up later. Anyway, I have not mentioned this yet but I shall now:**** I do not own nor have I ever owned any of these wonderful characters or the world, in which these characters live, I simply admire the writing of Pretty Little Liars and hope to put my twist on what is already a awesome story. ****QUICK PREVIEW: (Chapter 6: Spencer) (Chapter 7: Lucas) (Chapter 8: Emily) …. I may change my mind again, but that's probably what it's going to look like. So, now that we got all that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! **

**P.S. A special thanks to all the amazing reviews so far! A special, special thanks to Poisonnwine… your reviews make me soo happy and im so glad that you like the story!**

**SO I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW, SINCE I HAVE NOT UPDATED FOR A WHILE, I AM NOT GONE FOREVER. I HAVE FINALES SOON SO I AM TAKING A BREAK FROM WRITING BUT ILL CONTINUE AROUND THE 3RD OR 4TH WEEK OF DECEMBER. ILL EVEN TRY TO POST TWO OR THREE CHAPTERS AT A TIME SINCE ILL HAVE FREE TIME OFF SCHOOL. ALSO, DON'T WORRY IM NOT WRITING THIS AS I GO ALONG, I HAVE TO BASIC STORY ALREADY PLANNED OUT IN MY HEAD, ITS JUST THE DETAILS THAT IM HAVING TO SORT OF MAKE UP AS I GO ALONG, SO THIS WILL BE A STORY THAT CONCLUDES AT SOME POINT!**

**Toby**

Toby's family was never what you would call up-standing and productive citizens. His mother ran off with a truck driver when he was four years old, the last time Toby saw her, the trucker left her and she was strung out on meth. His father and step-mother were not much better. Neither one of them wanted to be parents but both were left with a child by their ex's, so they spent most of their time out having fun and drinking, leaving Toby and Jenna by themselves. However, it wasn't just Toby's mom and dad that were reckless and negligent; his whole family was either a bunch of crooks, drunks, or just plain assholes. When Toby was twelve years old he was told something that made little impact on him then, but rang so true to his situation now. He was at his grandmother's house for the weekend and his uncle, who had a beer in one hand and a newspaper in the other, was sitting on a recliner chair reading the crime reports. Toby was sitting on the sofa watching morning cartoons when his uncle Jim looked over at him and said out of the blue, pointing his index finger at Toby, "Ya know, a righteous man never does evil and an evil man never does right, but an honest man does both."

As Toby sat in his cell confined by four brick walls, he wondered which of the three men he was. He had done so many things in his life that he hated doing, but many of those same things he would never do differently. He did not think he could ever be considered an honest man, no, he had lied far too much for that title. Was he a righteous man? Can you commit a sin as awful as the one he committed and still be considered righteous? Toby doubted it. So, that left the question that Toby had obsessed over since the night he pulled that trigger. Was he an evil man? Could an evil man love as deeply and as truly as Toby loved Spencer? Toby always knew that he had a dark side but as time went by, the more time he spent on the "A" team, and the more time he spent in prison, the darker that side got and the more that darkness consumed him. When Toby joined the "A" team he learned that he had a talent or a curse, depending on how you thought of it. Toby could turn off all his feelings, fears, conscience, and even his love to do what he needed to do. Toby believed when he was on the "A" team he was not himself but instead the darkness within him taking human form.

Toby was currently in solitary confinement. He was sentence to 48 hours of solitary after getting in a fight with another inmate. Solitary confinement was better known as "the hole" to the inmates because there was absolutely no light within the small room. When Toby was pushed into the cell by a guard, it literally took him five minutes to find the dirty cot placed in the corner of the cell. All sense of time for Toby had disappeared and not knowing how long he had left in the dark room was infuriating to him. In "the hole" a minute felt like an hour and an hour felt like a day and he honestly did not know if it had been two minutes, two hours, or two days since he was shoved into the pitch black room.

In general population the prison was never a quiet place; every sound seemed to echo throughout the halls. However, in "the hole" which was in a small building just outside the prison, the silence was absolutely eerie. In an odd way, Toby had gotten used to the constant noises of the prison over the last four years. Everything in the prison was on a timed schedule and so was every prisoner, so Toby had began to expect certain sounds at certain times and that was so soothing to him now. Without those noises Toby had become accustomed to, sleeping became a very difficult feat. The only sound or sense of time Toby was given was when a guard would come twice a day at varied times and give him his meal through the small rectangular hole in the large metal door. This also gave Toby a split second of light for which he desired so much. However, trying to eat his food in complete darkness was something that he hoped he would never have to do again.

Not being able to sleep during his time in "the hole," Toby was forced to do a lot of thinking. Was "the hole" a metaphor for his life? Was "the hole" his soul and Spencer his light to which he so desired but was never within reach? Toby tried to shake off those thoughts and any thoughts that had to do with Spencer, but since her last visit to the prison that seemed impossible. The text message that she showed him through the glass window angered him possibly more than him telling Spencer to "be careful" angered her. However, he knew that giving her any indication of his true emotions could not only be dangerous to her but also to everyone she loves and he had already hurt her too much. Toby would have been an idiot to think that the "A" team wasn't still watching every move he made but he truly thought, after that night at the lake, their harassment of Spencer and the other girls was over as long as their identities stayed anonymous.

The sound of clunky boots hitting the tile floor startled Toby out of his thoughts. He instantly recognized the footsteps of those of a guard, and thought it must be meal time. The light released from the opening door burned Toby's eyes, temporarily blinding him. When Toby regained his sight he was being pulled to his feet by a brutish looking guard with a rather large neck. The guard must have been new because even with blurry eyes Toby knew he had never seen the man before, and being at the prison for four year now he could recognize mostly all the guards.

"What's going on?" Toby asked the guard who was turning him around and placing handcuffs around his wrists.

"Your times up, Cavanaugh." The large necked guard said bluntly as he led Toby out of "the hole."

As Toby and the large necked guard walked down the corridor he saw the familiar face of a older guard named Officer Franks, who was quiet but possibly the nicest guard in the prison. Franks was standing by the door that led outside with one hand on the door and the other place on his right hip where his tazer and gun were.

"No more fighting, eh" Franks said nodding at Toby as he and the large necked officer neared the door. Toby nodded his head lazily, feeling the weakness of his body and the heaviness of his sleepless eyes. Franks probably could just tell by looking at Toby that "the hole" was a living hell for him. Leaving a person with as many demons as Toby has in the dark with complete silence is creating a gateway for those demons to get out of the pit that Toby buried them in.

As Franks and the large necked officer walked Toby back into the main prison Toby felt a calming sensation. As weird as it was this prison was his home and unlike many who continued to hate the place and plead their innocents, Toby had gotten used to the prison and maybe that was because he knew he deserved to be there, and nowhere else.

Toby and the two guards neared the cell numbered 1050 that had belonged to him for about two years. The large necked guard reached over to pick up a food tray that way place on a roll out chart next to the cell. Toby raised his eyebrow at the guard in curiosity as Franks undid his handcuffs and lightly pushed his into his cell. Meal time was usually in the "dining hall" which was really just an empty area in the middle of the cell block that had pull out tables and plastic chairs scattered about.

"Paper work was slow getting through, we had to delay you're release from solitary so you missed dinner." Franks said noticing Toby's questioning expression as the large necked officer placed the food tray inside his cell.

"That means room service for you, Cavanaugh," the large necked officer said in his deep expressionless voice.

Toby was happy that he wasn't going to have to eat in the same room as the guy who gave him a black eye and a few bruised ribs. As usual Toby had tried to play hero and winded up getting his ass kick by a guy twice as big as him. He had gotten a few good punches in on the large inmate but Toby had been far outmatched by the man.

Franks shut the metal door of the cell and Toby was left alone to eat his meal. Meal time at the prison was like playing Russian roulette because you never knew if you were going to get a normal meal or one that was spiked with Laxatives or Ipecac syrup. Toby picked through the varied colored food on his plate only consuming a few bites before deciding that his body ached far too much to risk a night full of vomiting.

Often the prison guards would get angry if you didn't eat your meal and would restrict you from yard time, which prisoners got about once a week. Yard time was an hour in which the prisoners got to go outside for "recreational activities." Usually Toby would just sit outside by himself and enjoy the fresh air and sunlight, but it was still his favorite part of the week.

Toby looked down at the tray in discussed and to insure that he could keep his yard time he carried the tray over to the small metal toilet in his cell and dumped it. As he emptied the tray he noticed a small white square taped on the bottom of the pale colored tray. Only a couple people had ways of getting a note to Toby without it being "reviewed" and eventually "disposed of" by the guards. Of course the only people to be, shall we say "creative" enough to accomplish this task were former or current "A" team members. Toby was just hoping this note wasn't from a current member.

Over the years Toby had gotten notes from both sides and to be honest he didn't really enjoy getting either because weather it was from former or current it always meant something big and important was going on.

Toby pulled the taped note off the tray and unfolded it. He immediately recognized the hand writing and knew who it was from and was slightly relieved.

_It's time to end this, man! You need to tell her everything we know, she's smart and she will figure it all out. The money's in the bank, you already have the account number, so you just do what you need to do now. -L_

_P. S. _

_Do not get caught by ANYONE!_

Toby scoffed that the note, "as intense as ever," he mumbled to himself. Toby tended to forget that Lucas was no longer that skinny and awkward kid he was in high school that got pushed around by everyone, no prison had turned that kid into a man, and sometime a rather scary man. Toby knew that that night at the lake had haunted Lucas even more than it haunted him, and that's really saying a lot. Ever since that night, Lucas had done everything in his power to uncover the identities of the people who had ruined their lives and turned them into monsters. However, attempting this discovery from within the prison walls was not an easy task and Toby knew, like himself, Lucas had to befriend horrible people and do horrible things and continuing to sell bits of his soul in order to end the evil he was once part of.


	6. Lucas

**Four Years Later**

**So, so, so, so, sorry I have not posted a chapter in a long time but like I mentioned in one of my first chapters this will be a long story drawn out over a long period of time, so stick with it PLEASE, because there will be soo many twists and turns. I would love to post a chapter every week but unfortunately the writing side of my brain is never in a hurry to do anything. I had some serious writer block on this chapter and it took me a long time to write but it's finally the way I want it so YAY! I will probably do a couple more Lucas chapters and you will see more of Isaac AKA The Protector in flashbacks and you will see some more of Wyatt and a few more new characters and a couple of the "real" PLL character will pay a visit to Lucas. I plan next chapter to on titled Spencer: Coming Home, but you know how my plan work out lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy **

**Lucas**

Lucas was in his cell, lying on his bunk reading a comic book that his grandmother sent him a few weeks ago. His grandma was the only one in his family that still talked to him, everyone else tried to imagine that he never existed and his sins never happened. At first his parents attempted to convince themselves that he was "innocent" despite Lucas pleading guilty at the trial. When they realized he had done what he had admitted to, they told themselves and everyone they knew that he was "mentally unstable" and was "getting help." However, the last time he heard from or seen his parents was when the psychologist found him to be completely sane. Lucas didn't have much in his life anymore, but what he did have was the determination to find justice and the ability to read the comic books that he used as a guide to find the path that he had lost somewhere along the way.

When Lucas was young he treasured comic books because they showed ordinary men being able to transform into something more to protect the one's they love. He would read "Batman" and "Spiderman" and "Green Arrow" because they gave him hope that one day he could transform into one of these characters and be able to stop all the bully's and school would no longer be the living hell that it always had been for him. He liked to imagine that he would be invincible to the hurtful words that Ali would try to beat him down with. He liked to think that no jock or cheerleader would ever be able to make him hate himself again. When he joined the "A" team they gave him that promise that they would take down all the assholes in the school and the people who had everything would be put in their place. However, he soon learned that he was only a pawn in a much more devious plan that he's spent his last four years in prison trying to uncover. Every time he tried to escape from the manipulations of the "A" team, they would threaten him or the people he cared most about the most. The more Lucas tried to escape from the grasps of the "A" team, the more they forced him to do things that ended up turning him into the villain of his own life.

Lucas reached the end of his book and walked over to the silver sink in the corner of the cell to wash his sweat covered face. It's the middle of July and the air conditioning in the prison is broken as usual. He looked down in the bowl of the sink only to see his reflection staring back at him. Sometimes he had a hard time recognizing himself; he was no longer the simple, round faced, curly haired boy that he was in high school. Lucas's once plump face was now slender with his cheeks slightly caving in and his jaw line more prominent and strong than before. His curly, black, locks were shaved into a buzz cut that made it more bearable to deal with the heat of the summer. His eyes were now dim and sullen, and his overall expression was usually brutish and surly. However, the most distinct trait about his appearance was the large spider tattoo on his neck, covering up the scar where his bullet wound had once been. The doctor's said that it was a miracle that he survived and that if the bullet had hit one inch higher he would likely be dead. Lucas didn't understand why God or whoever was running this show called life would waste a miracle on him. For many months in the prison Lucas hated himself and nearly every choice he had made. Many nights went by when he thought ending his life would be the best thing for everyone. He would stop feeling the heart wrenching guilt that kept him up at night, his family could finally forget about him, and Hanna would have the comfort of knowing that the man who killed her mother was rotting in a grave somewhere. Every day wore on him heavier and heavier and when he finally felt like giving up, a voice told him that justice had not been served and the true evil was still free to prey on the women who he was in love with. Lucas splashed the room temperature water over his face, in some ways hoping he would wash away the man he is now and uncover that innocent boy so that the path before him wouldn't be so blurred. The line between right and wrong was now a hard thing to see and this made his avenge for justice a difficult feat.

Lucas is now a fairly powerful person with the small society living behind these concrete walls. Many men respect him and even more men fear him, over time he has become the kind of man where it is smart to have both feeling in mind when he is around. However, life in prison was far more difficult before a Hispanic man named Isaac basically saved his life. Before Isaac, Toby was just another fresh face for the other prisoners to beat up on and it really didn't help that he killed a woman. Ethics are easily forgotten in the prison but one value that quite a few of the prisoners still follow is, no women and no children. Lucas used to wonder if it were a blessing or a curse that the courts sent him to a medium security due to that fact that his life was being threatened at the time of the murder. On one hand being in medium security meant that he was not trapped in a cell 23 hours a day, on the other hand he was not trapped in a cell 23 hours a day and actually had to deal with people. Lucas was never a social butterfly in high school and when he walked into the prison it was no different….actually it was a lot worse.

_When Lucas stepped foot in the prison it was as if the other prisoners could smell his fear. When they looked at him they saw weakness just like every bully in high school did. On his second week in the prison word must have gotten around about what he did because he was getting beatings daily. Then one random Tuesday he was in the dining hall eating the globs of discolored food as far away from the other prisoners as he could get when first saw Isaac. Isaac had slicked back black hair, a black goatee, and was surrounded by men of all races. Most people Lucas had seen in prison tended to stay close to their own race as much as they could, so to see this Hispanic man encircled by white men, black men, other Hispanic men, and even Indian men was very odd but even stranger than that was that Isaac was staring directly at Lucas from two tables away. Isaac's black eyes were staring straight through Lucas and there was just the slightest grin on his face. Lucas thought for sure that this was the only man in here crazy enough to actually kill him. Every second Isaac stared at him; Lucas could feel his days being numbered. _

_Then behind him he heard the movement of at least four men and before he could turn around he was being pulled out of his seat. A muscular arm was around his neck and the other around his side holding a sharp metal shard against him. The man who towered over him by at least four inches whispered in his ear "You kill innocent women, ya little bitch?" Lucas was ready; if this is how he died then he was ready to go. Then in the distance Isaac stood up and what was once a room full of yelling and hollering became so silent you could hear a pin drop. The two larger men that were seated on either side of Isaac stood up as well. Isaac's eyes were no longer on Lucas but instead above him at the man with the shank. Lucas didn't know what was going on but he did know that he was extremely intimidated by both groups of men. The two men stared at each other for a little over a minute before Lucas felt the muscular arm that was nearly choking him release its grasp. The men behind him walked off back to their table and Isaac and the two other men returned to their seats. The loud noises echoed throughout the prison again and everything when back to "normal," except Lucas was still standing in shock and not sure how to respond or what to do. Finally, he decided the best thing to was sit back down where his food tray was and continue to eat._

_By the time Lucas looked up from his food tray one of the large men that was sitting next to Isaac was now standing over him. The man was at least six- foot- five, he was rather husky but not over weight, he had a thick beard and a slightly receding hair line. He was the kind of man that you looked at and instantly feared, not because he looked angry or violent but because you knew if he ever got angry or violent he could snap anyone like a twig. Lucas looked up at him saying nothing, mostly out of fear but also he just couldn't think of anything to say. _

_The large man gently sat down across from Lucas and said " Isaac would like to meet you." The man's voice was deep with a strong southern accent but he did not mumble or stutter, he was very clear and confident when he spoke._

_Lucas didn't understand anything that was going on and he absolutely didn't understand Isaac's motivation for wanting to keep him alive. "Why?" Lucas asked the large man sitting across from him._

_The large man's response was quick like he had answered that question a million times over again. " He wants to make sure the man he saved deserves to live." Lucas was fairly confident that he did not "deserve" to live, he knew this, the other prisoners knew this, why the hell didn't this Isaac man who seemed to break every social rule the prisoners had and yet have so much control not know what he has done and that he was not worthy of his own life. _

"_I don't…..deserve life, I'm sure you have heard what I did?" Lucas stammered over the words that reluctantly came out of this mouth._

_The man had a quick response to this as well. "Isaac don't judge you on what you did in the past, that is then and this is here and now."_

_Lucas accepted this answer but still did not under understand why Isaac would save his life? "But why? Why save me?"_

_The expression on the large man's face quickly changed at this question. His expression was no longer calm and confident but he now looked confused and almost frustrated. "Boy, a starvin' dog with fleas doesn't ask "why" when he gets rescued, he just wags his tail and licks his butt and thanks the Lord he ain't dead!" His voice came out deeper and his accent more noticeable this time._

_Lucas did not much like being compared to a dog but just simply nodded at this analogy. However, the large man was still able to read Lucas's puzzled expression at the seemingly unanswered question. "Well if you must know, Isaac likes his stray dogs but that's all I'm sayin' about that, the rest you're gonna have to talk to him about." The large man said sighing while getting up and walking back to the table shaking his head, and then he suddenly turned around facing Lucas again. _

"_Oh, by the way, my name is Wyatt." He said returning to his calm and confident voice._

"_Im-" Lucas said trying to return the pleasantries before being interrupted by Wyatt._

"_Lucas, I know" Wyatt said chuckling lightly as he walked away._

Lucas smiled at that memory because as odd as it was at the time it was one of the good one's he has had in the prison and all the good memories he did have here all lead back to Isaac and that moment when Isaac "The Protector," took a gamble on him and gave him a second chance at life. "The Protector" was a nickname given to Isaac by all the men he had "saved" in one way or another, a few months after Lucas met him. Isaac was modest and brushed off the name as a joke but it stuck and eventually he accepted it as his own. Thinking of Isaac made Lucas both happy and sad. Over time Lucas had forged a close friendship with Isaac, even taking one of the seats next to him and if you knew anything about Isaac that was something truly special. Lucas sits in Isaac's seat now, with brave and trustworthy Wyatt sitting by his side and Lucas also has a nickname now….well, many nicknames but no name or person will amount to what The Protector was. You see, Isaac was not the protector of just your average day criminal, he was The Protector of the weak, hopeless, fearful young men who had made mistakes in their past but still wished to seek some sort of redemption. Isaac was the one who convinced Lucas to fight against the "A" team to "give back to who you have wronged" as he put it. He convinced many of the other men to do the same, "give back to who you have wronged, even if you have little to give it will always mean something." Thinking of Isaac's words made Lucas do something he hadn't done in a very long time….cry. He was not sobbing, just a few small tears falling down his cheeks that he quickly wiped away. No, he will never get to thank The Protector, his protector, enough for not only saving his life but also saving his soul. Isaac "The Protector" Gonzalez will never be forgotten.


	7. Spencer: Coming Home

**4 Years Later**

**Hello! So I never expected this chapter to turn out this long but I thought instead of breaking it up into several chapters I would go ahead and pack it into one as an apology for my absence. I also thought about changing my story to fit more of the direction the show is going but I decided that I have a story in my head and im going to stick to it, so it won't align with the show but I hope you guys will still like it! Enjoy!**

**Spencer: Coming Home**

The wind gently blew against Spencer's hair through the cracked window as she drove down the long road leading to Rosewood. The somewhat soothing sound of Roy snoring in the back seat slightly calmed Spencer's nerves that she always seem to get when she came back to the place she once called home. It could be her fear of "A," her desire to avoid her family, her need to forget the horror story that was her past, or all of the above that makes her feel like she has a herd of cattle trampling around in her stomach, yet here she is driving to the place that she would call the pit of hell any day of the week. People say that "Home is where the heart is," and Spencer knows that her heart will always be in Rosewood but what those "people" don't tell you is that sometimes you have to leave your heart behind in order to find peace. So, that's exactly what Spencer did, she left her damaged, broken, mangled heart in Rosewood and got far enough away that regular visits were too much for her loved ones to ask for but not far away enough that she couldn't be home in a matter of hours if there was an emergency. The drive is five hours with little traffic; five and a half counting the time to let Roy out to pee. However, there was traffic and she was just about six hours in the trip when she hit the stretch of road just outside of Rosewood that always made her queasy. When she saw the yield sign just over the hill the memory of her heart shattering into a million pieces flooded back to her.

_The engine of the SUV and the whaling cries of Hanna were the only sounds to be heard in the car that night, that fateful night that the four girls would never forget and would always hate to remember. Aria was holding Hanna as she sobbed into her shoulder. Emily was the only one who was able to hold it together enough to drive and Spencer was sitting in the passenger's seat staring out the window in shock of the events that just occured. All three of the girls wanted so desperately to say something to Hanna that would make everything better but she had just seen her mother being murdered and they all knew it was not going to get better for a long time, so they stayed silent. Emily was the first to notice the police lights just over the hill and off to the side of the road. Emily softly nudged Spencer out of her daze and nodded toward the three police cars just up ahead. The figures by the cars were too far away for either girl to identify. However, they both saw the ever so recognizable black hoodie at the same time._

_As they neared the three police cars certain objects became clearer to Spencer. Even though it was dark out, the flashing lights on the police cars allowed her to recognize a sniper rifle, a pair of keys, and a cell phone on the hood of the nearest cop car. However, the cops and the figure wearing the black hoodie were turned in the opposite of their SUV. Emily slowed the vehicle as they pulled up on the other side of the police car furthest away from the cops. One very tall and lanky officer motioned them to continue driving and Emily started to accelerate when a sudden urge came over Spencer. This is what they have been waiting for, for three years now! The opportunity to see the person that has ruined their lives get taken down, finally. Spencer wanted to see the face of the person that killed Ali, the person that tried to kill all of them multiple times, the person who just killed Hanna's mother, she wanted to see the face of evil so desperately. She opened the door of the slowly moving SUV, all of the other three girls made pleas for her to stay in the car but this was something she needed. Spencer heard somewhere that "fear is not fear if it has a face," and for so long her fear had no face or had multiple faces but never the right face, never the face that she could hold responsible for everything that's happened. As her feet hit the ground her heart skipped a beat…..she was doing thing and nothing was going to stop her. She ran as fast as she could down and across the long road, trying her best to avoid the police officers trying to stop her. A very large and muscular officer was standing beside the figure holding his right shoulder and wrist. When she was just inches away from the figure that was handcuffed, who was still turned away from her, she put one of her cold hands on his other shoulder…she recognized this shoulder?…..she recognized the stature of this person?... Who was this person? Spencer tugged on the shoulder but the figure tugged back refusing to turn around and face her. "Look at me!" Spencer shouted much louder than she intended. The figures was staring at the ground, shaking its head in rejection of Spencer's demand. This angered Spencer, after everything this person couldn't even show its face? This person was a coward! The officer beside the figure was trying to get her attention, saying words that she was simply not listening to. Spencer walked to the front of the hooded figure and even with the face being held downward avoiding any eye contact, she knew who it was and it made her heart stop. _

_Before she realized it she was on her knees on the ground with water soaking her face. What was this water?...Was it raining? She asked herself before looking up at the sky for rain drops. However, the sky was clear, she touched her wet face and realized that these were her own tears and then she remembered the reason for those tears. The hooded figure that she would have called the love of her life just minutes ago was now sitting in the back of a police car and she was being pulled to her feet from behind by a women police officer. _

"_Miss, you need to go home now, your friends are waiting for you," the women police officer said with concern and worry in her voice. Spencer felt numb, she could not talk, or walk, or move, and it hurt soo much to breathe in the cold air. The officer nodded to her left and sure enough Emily, Aria, and Hanna were standing just a few feet away looking at Spencer with a variety of expressions. Emily looked like she could burst into a rage at any second but Spencer could tell she was holding it all in, like she always did. Aria looked at Spencer with a great deal of sadness and pity. And Hanna, poor Hanna whose mascara was running her cheeks, hair matted, looking an absolute mess was standing there with the most despairing look on her face. Her friends, the girls she loved more than anyone, were hurting so much and the man she loved caused that pain._

Many people say that "time heals all wounds" but Spencer knows that real wounds, wounds of the heart, never truly heal, they just get easier to forget about over time. However, when reminded of the pain of that tragic event the wounds seem so new and open. Spencer turned on the radio to an unknown station just to drown out the thoughts of her past. After that night all of the girls planed on leaving Rosewood after graduation, it seemed like the best way to forget everything that had happened to them. However, when Emily's dad was killed in Iraq everyone's plan changed. Spencer had never see Emily like she was then, not even after Maya was killed. She always knew when Emily couldn't handle something that she tended to drink but this wasn't drinking not to feel pain, this was drinking to release anger. All of the girls had kept the secrets and the lies to themselves for so long but what they didn't realize is that they were also keeping in all the emotions that came along with those secrets and lies.

Spencer didn't think about it until after Emily spiraled out of control but now Spencer sees that Emily was not the "strong one" and she was not "holding it together" that horrible night, she was hurting and in as much pain as everyone else, except she was just better at keeping it all hidden in a corner. So, they all stayed in Rosewood and tried their best to take care of their broken friend, when they were broken themselves. Intervention after intervention after intervention was held and every time Emily would behave so unlike Emily; yelling, screaming, breaking things, accusing everyone of "not understanding." But Spencer thought if anyone could understand what she was going through it was them, the girls that had been through this whole thing with her from the beginning, but she was wrong. Even today Spencer secretly wished it had been her to get through to Emily, but it wasn't and in a way Spencer felt guilty for not helping Emily more and even guiltier for leaving Rosewood even though it's what Emily her to do during one of the visits to rehab. All the girls saw that it was killing Spencer to stay in Rosewood; everything in the town reminded her of Toby and thinking about him hurt so much then.

As Spencer drove into town she was amazed by how unchanged everything was. She hadn't been back to Rosewood in a little over two years but the town seemed to be frozen in time. No new shops were built, no new plants or trees were grown, and all the people look slightly familiar as they always did in the small town. However, as Spencer pulled into the café that one of her best friends now owned, she realized if one thing had changed in Rosewood it was the name of what was The Brew. Spencer looked up at the large sign with a logo of a coffee cup and a gold and purple heart placed on the cup, with the words "The Purple Heart" written on the bottom. Spencer smiled and thought of how far Emily had come from where she was. Spencer only wished she had been as strong as Emily, that this whole "A" thing didn't hold her back from getting exactly what she wanted in life. Spencer walked to the back of her car and let a now wide awake and gleeful Roy out of the vehicle. He wagged his tail back and forth as he sprung from the backseat to the wide open parking lot. Roy was well trained but still had a lot of puppy in him and got very excited around new places and people. Just as Spencer turned around to head into the Café, she saw a fury of blond hair running toward her and then the weight of the blond women hugging her tightly.

"Spence, you're here! It's been way too long!" Hanna said still squeezing Spencer firmly.

"Han, I love you and missed you too but if you don't let go I'm not going to be able to breathe." Spencer said wheezing out the words. Hanna loosened her grip and took a step away from Spencer with an embarrassed grin.

" Well, I was afraid if I let go then you would leave and not come back for two years!" Hanna said factiously with a under tone of anger.

"I'm sorry Hanna, it just that—" But before Spencer could bumble through a guilt ridden excuse she was interrupted by Hanna who was now staring down Roy who was furiously wagging his tail and panting. Spencer could tell it was taking every ounce of his restraint not to jump all over Hanna.

"What is this?" Hanna said as she pointed to Roy, the scowl on her face now turning into a huge grin, the type of grin Hanna always got when she saw a baby or anything with fur.

"He's a dog, Hanna." Spencer said very slowly, making fun of Hanna's question. Hanna was quick to roll her eyes at Spencer which made Spencer laugh. No, no nothing has changed, Spencer thought to herself.

"Hanna this is Roy, Roy this is your crazy Aunt Hanna." Spencer said laughing at both Hanna and Roy who seem equally as excited to see one another.

Hanna bent down and petted and cooed over the large German Shepard who gladly took every bit of the affection.

"This is not exactly what I had in mind when I said you needed a man." Hanna said to Spencer chuckling.

"Are you kidding? He obeys me and hardly ever talks back, he is the best kind of man!" Spencer said back jokingly.

"Hmmm, maybe I should trade Caleb in and get one of these." Hanna said giggling, while still petting Roy.

Just when a silence fell over the two girls, Spencer saw Emily through the large window that covers most of the front wall of the café. She was busy cleaning the counter top and talking to one of the few customers who was sitting on a stool.

"How is she?" Spencer asked Hannah who turned away from Roy to face the window.

"Um, she's good, she's sober. She keeps busy which I think helps her, keeps her mind off of everything." Hanna turned back to Roy and continued to pet him. "And I think she's as happy as she wants herself to be, which is better than when she wanted herself to be miserable."

All of the girls felt a certain amount of guilt over everything that happened. But Emily always has such a kind, gentle, and caring heart that she felt she needed to be punished for the guilt that she felt. This was something very hard for the other three girls to watch her go through.

"And you? How are you doing?" Spencer asked in general concern for her friend. She knew if her friends felt anything like she felt, then they felt like shit almost all the time.

"I'm good! I mean I miss mom and I go to the graveyard as often as I can even though it still totally gives me the creeps, but having Caleb around helps a lot, even though he rarely obeys and almost always talks back." Hanna said chuckling out the last part while looking at Roy.

"Oh! By the way, you're going to have stay around for my wedding since you're going to be a bridesmaid." Hanna said nonchalantly with the faintest of grins.

"What?! You're getting married!? " Spencer asked in shock and Hanna nodded and held out her hand to show Spencer her ring with a small diamond on it.

"It's not much but it's mine." Hanna said referring to the ring. She looked so happy, she sounded so happy, she was so happy, Spencer thought to herself as she looked at Hanna admiring her ring and deep down this made Spencer envious of how happy Hanna was.

"Well, Congrats Han! Have you set a date, yet?" Spencer asked.

"Um, well we were going to have it sooner than later but with all this "A" stuff going on we think it is better to wait till all this blows over, ya know?" Hanna said now sanding up and looking at Spencer.

"Right, sorry, yet again "A" has managed to screw up our lives." Spencer said angrily.

"No Spencer, just because Caleb and I aren't getting married tomorrow doesn't mean anything is screw up. We love each other and that's something "A" can't take away." Hanna said.

Spencer wished that was true for her, that "A" hadn't taken her ability to love or trust someone away. Spencer wished so badly that she could be as happy as Hanna.

"Well, I'm really happy for you Hanna, you deserve this." Spencer said to Hanna giving her a quick hug.

"Don't I know it! Well, let's get inside, I'm sure Emily is wondering what the hell were doing out here." Hanna laughed while putting her arm on Spencer's shoulders. Both the girl walked into the cafe and Spencer was greeted by Emily quickly walking from the counter to the front door.

"Hey, Spence! I was wondering when you were going to get your ass in here!" Emily said pulling Spencer in for a hug.

"Well, Hanna just wouldn't shut up, so ya know." Spencer said making the other two girls laugh.

"Hanna? Talking too much? Never!" Emily said sarcastically as she pulled out of Spencer's hug.

"Hey! Big life events to talk about here, can you blame me?" Hanna said laughing.

For a moment it all felt right. Everything that had happened faded away and it was just friends catching up on each other lives and making fun of one another. It was nice but for them it was not at all normal.

"Wait. Where's Aria?" Spencer asked looking around and seeing no sign of Aria. And almost on cue Aria walked in the front door of the café with her large purse over her shoulder, looking slightly out of breathe.

"Sorry I'm late." Aria said apolitically.

"No worries, I just now got here, traffic has been crazy." Spencer said hugging Aria. Aria slightly smiled but Spencer could tell something was wrong. "Hey, you okay?" Spencer asked Aria who just seemed to be preoccupied.

"Yeah, Im just—just really happy to see you!" Aria said seeming to convince Spencer even less that everything was fine.

" Okay, well since we're all here now I think we should go through all the recent texts from "A" and I've got files of all the previous text messages and the other things we've got from "A." Maybe we can piece something together with what we have." Spencer said pulling out two large notebooks and a folder full of file.

"Ah, and Spencer is officially back everyone." Hanna announced.

"Like she never left" Emily said laughing at Hanna's comment.

"Okay, Okay, phones out everyone" Spencer said ignoring the girl giggling at her expense but she couldn't help laughing herself.

All the girls got their phones out and scrolled to their latest texted messages from "A" except for Aria who was now sitting on a nearby soft looking down at her shoes not saying a word.

"Aria, what's wrong." Spencer asked, the girls now all looking at Aria with concern.

"Remember when I said that I was sorry I was late?" Aria said sheepishly looking up at her friends.

The three girls were stumped and had no idea what Aria was getting at.

"Yeah?" Emily finally said confusedly

"Well, im late in more than one way." Aria said slowly to help the other girls catch up.

"Oh my god!?" Emily and Spencer said in unison.

"Wait, I don't get it?" Hanna said still perplexed.

"I'm pregnant, Hanna" Aria said rolling her eyes, slightly annoyed.

"Wait, this is good isn't it? You and Ezra love each other and have been together forever, and you both have good job, I know you're not married yet but—" Spencer said before Hanna interrupted.

" But it's not like you and Ezra have ever done anything by the book, I think everyone would be shocked if he didn't knock you up before he put a ring on your finger." Hanna scoffed.

"Nice, Han." Emily said sarcastically at Hanna's crude statement.

"What?!" Hanna said defensively.

"Well, I wouldn't have worded exactly like that but Hanna is right, I don't think anyone will care that you're not married if that's what you're worried about?" Spencer said to Aria but Aria was now furiously shaking her head and crying.

"It's not—it's not that!" Aria choked out through her sobs. The other girl tried their best to comfort her but it seem like every time she tried to explain the more and more difficult it would become to speak.

Finally it was evident that Aria was not going to be composed enough to say what she needed to say so she held out her phone and pulled up the text message from "A" and showed it to the other girls.

"Wait, now I really don't understand?" Hanna said bewildered by the text message.

"Yeah, I'm with Hanna on this one." Emily said looking at Aria for an explanation.

"…..Ezra's not the father, is he?" Spencer shocked both Hanna and Emily by being the one to say something and not Aria.

"It was stupid—I was mad and Wesley was there…..and I'm so stupid!" Aria said angrily.

"Hold on! Wesley! Wesley is the father?" Emily half shouted in shock while the other two girls looked absolutely stunned.

"I don't know, he could be. Ezra could be the father too but when do good things never happen to us?" Aria said.

"I hate to be the one to say this Aria but you have to tell Ezra, keeping this a secret from him will only give "A" something to hold over you." Spencer said.

"I know, Spencer. I just don't want to hurt him, it will break his heart and then I'll be raising a kid alone and I don't know if I can do that!"

"Hey, you will never have to worries about raising that baby alone; he or she has three aunts and uncle Caleb and your parents. We're not going to let you do this alone." Hanna said.

After much comforting from the other girls, Aria said that she still didn't feel like going over the whole "A" thing but felt well enough to drive home. The girls said their goodbyes and Aria left the café.

"Wow, Aria is pregnant and doesn't know who the father is and Hanna you're getting married, I will never leave for two years again!" Spencer said in awe of everything she has learned since being back in Rosewood for just a little over two hours.

"You better not!" Hanna said to Spencer.

"What about you, Em, any life changing events for you that I've missed." Spencer asked and Emily quickly shook her head no and gave Hanna a side-ways look as she went to open her mouth.

"Well—"Hanna said laughing.

"Don't!" Emily demanded.

"It's not like she won't find out anyway! She's staying with me and Caleb and we hear you all the time, you should really consider investing in soundproofing your apartment Em, you are not at all quite, and you would think she would be." Hanna said directing the last part to Spencer who had no idea what she was talking about. Emily was just shaking her head looking embarrassed by what she knew Hanna was about to say.

"Um, what exactly are we talking about, did you join a band or something?" Spencer asked Emily utterly confused. This made Hanna burst into laughter.

"More like did a band" Hanna said through her laughter.

"Hanna, Stop!" Emily said knowing that Hanna wouldn't.

"What?" Spencer said still not understanding

"Our little, innocent, quiet, sweet Em gets more tail than- than, well, a dog that chases its tail." Hanna said bumbling through the sentence.

"That a horrible metaphor and she's exaggerating, Spencer." Emily said. Spencer couldn't help but laugh at all of this, it was so ridiculous it was funny.

"I am not exaggerating! You just wait and you'll hear what I mean" Hanna laughed.

"Well, first of all I think it's really pervy of you and Caleb to be listening to Emily and her…uh dates? And second of all I really don't care Emily, it's your business." Spencer said still laughing a little, while Hanna shook her head and Emily went through her phone.

"Ah, see that there, canceling a booty call" Hanna said pointing to Emily.

After a while of Hanna making fun of Emily and Emily trying to defend herself, the mood changed and they were finally able to analyze the text messages. It was like being back in high school, they had so much information that "A" had given them but the more evidence they had the more questions they had. And again like in high school "A" was able to know things that were impossible for anyone but them to know. The frustration built and built with each dead end they hit, finally after hours and hours of looking over old texted messages and files and court reports, Hanna cough and nudged Emily who was sitting next to her.

"Listen, Spencer, I know the whole family thing is complicated and I wouldn't be asking if I thought me or Hanna could do it but—" Emily said before she was interrupted by Spencer.

"But, I need to go see Melissa, I know. I don't want to, talking to her about this….is, well the one time I tried it was impossible, they had her so drugged up she hardly knew her own name." Spencer said. It was weird, knowing that your own sister was behind all your misery for so long than having to forgive her because she's completely off her rocker, but not ever know for sure if she is as crazy as she seems because Mona pulled that shit too. It made Spencer's head hurt which is why it was best for her to avoid her family altogether. However, weather Melissa was the leader or not, weather Melissa was crazy or not, she knew things that Spencer was going to find out one way or another.

Spencer spent a quiet evening and Hanna's and thought it was probably safe to assume that either Emily canceled her plans or Hanna was exaggerating. The next morning Spencer woke up after a rough night's sleep, there's something about Rosewood that makes her wake up every two hours to make sure a hooded black figure isn't standing above her. When she walked into the small kitchen Hanna and Caleb were already awake. Hanna was watching the news on the small television in the living room and Caleb writing an email for work.

"Mind if I get the newspaper?" Spencer asked noticing a lack of one.

"Sure, should be laying outside the door, we should really unsubscribe, Caleb gets all the news he's interested in online and I'd rather pretty people tell me the news instead of getting newspaper hands." Hanna said looking away from the television.

"Newspaper hands, Hanna?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, you hold the newspaper for too long and the ink comes off on your hands." Hanna said hold up her hands to show Spencer they were clean of ink.

Spencer shook her head and walked to the door to get the newspaper which was where Hanna said it would be. Spencer picked up the paper and walked back inside, sat down, and opened it up to the business section and a small white piece of paper fell out that read: T wants to talk, go see him two days from now at 3:00 pm. Could this be it, could this be him finally telling her what she's needed to hear for so long; the big What, Where, Why, When, and Who of it all. Or was this just something else she was going to get her hope up on and once again get stuck with more questions than answers.


	8. Ezra

**4 Years Later**

**Hey, Guys. I know at this point it would just be repetitive to apologize again but I really am sorry for not posting in so long. I've had a lot of school things going on and when I wasn't in school I was finding it very hard to get the writing juices flowing. So, I decided to reveal quite a lot in this chapter, like I said in last chapter it's not going follow the real PLL story quite as much but I hope you like the twists that I've add and hope you enjoy the chapter ****.**

**Ezra**

All Ezra ever wanted was a normal life with a normal family. No trust fund, no expensive boarding school, no rich parent's to bail him or his brother out whenever they would screw up. Growing up neither Ezra nor his younger brother Wesley ever had to take responsibility for anything they did, they always knew it was going to be "taken care of." When Ezra was a teenager he used to abuse this sense of security but when he found out his high school girlfriend was pregnant everything changed. Sure, at the time Ezra thought Maggie had gotten an abortion, but still it changed how he looked at his life. Because he never had to take responsibility for his actions, he had no control or free will over what happened to him or his future. For the longest time his mother was pushing him into a life that he never wanted and until Maggie got pregnant, he was letting her. Not too long after that Ezra left home and decided he wanted to be a teacher. In his families eye's teaching was not a "noble profession" and was looked down on. He was constantly told by his mother and his uncles "Those who can't do, teach, Ezra." But Ezra wanted more than anything to prove them wrong, to show them that he could be both a great writer and a great teacher.

When Ezra arrived in Rosewood his whole world and everything he believed life was and even his perception of people changed. He knew that people could be cruel, his whole family was made up of master manipulators and liars but as soon as you met them you knew exactly who they were and what their intentions were, you knew they were not good people. In Rosewood it was so very different; the devil could wear the face of a teenage girl and a murderer could be the face that you trust the most. When Ezra was just a boy his father, who was dying from cancer told him from his death bed, with sadness in his eye and disappointment on his face "You have a big heart, son. You care about people more than you care about yourself. I never thought my first born son would turn out the way you did, you're…..emotional. Some people see these as good qualities, mostly women." He scoffed and struggled to take a few deep breathes before he continued on. "But you will never be the man I wished would be and you will never do the things I wished you would do, because having a big heart just makes you a bigger target and stronger people will always control you and the ones you love will either disappoint you or take advantage of you ." He said in his weak voice, gasping for air after almost every word. His father was always a strong and domineering man whose face was always stoic and the only time he ever really talked when it had to do with "business." Ezra hated the words his father was saying to him, and yet a part of him loved the fact that his father was talking to him at all. Ezra didn't cry at his father's funeral, partly because of what he said to him only a week before he died, he didn't want to be "emotional," and partly because the only time he felt a connection to his father was when his father told him that he will never be the man he wished his son would be.

The only thing Ezra ever wanted was a normal life and now he has that normal life that he always wished for. He had Aria who made him feel so loved that most of the time he was sure he didn't deserve it and he had his son who carried the second piece of his heart and without his son or Aria he knew he would not be whole. Ezra had gone through so much to get the life that he has now and the threat of having it taken away was more than he was willing to accept. It was a gloomy night with the trees gently swaying and a mist of rain falling lightly. Ezra wore a light jacket and a pair of loose fitted, faded blue jeans. With his hand in his jacket pocket he gripped the cold metal handle of a gun that he had bought just a couple of weeks ago. As he neared a run down old house that he had passed a million times but never paid much attention to, a shiver ran down his spine and he took a deep breath as he stood just in front of the stoop of the old house. This was it, Ezra thought to himself, this moment is the moment that he takes control of his life again. He walked up the four steps that creaked underneath him, he walked to the faded wood colored door with the old rusted nob, and then he opened the door that squeaked as he entered A's new layer.

It was not as it was before; the pictures on the walls were now replaced by numerous newspaper clippings, some were even written on in red marker with odd symbols and random words. Ezra didn't understand any of it of course, he never did understand, he knew that it had nothing to do with him and at the same time everything to do with him. He was told many times by people he did not like or trust, that he was the catalyst, the beginning of everything. Ezra knew his sin was boundless, that his awful mistake caused so much hurt and pain and death but he also knew that he was anything but the catalyst. He may not understand the secret codes or symbol that they held so closely to themselves but so far away from him, but he does know that this whole tragedy did not begin with him, but on this dark and gloomy night he had decided it was going to end with him. He looked at the text on the phone, he was on time for the meeting and yet the house seemed to be abandoned until he heard the clanking heals of women's shoes coming down the somewhat unstable staircase.

She stood there at the bottom of the staircase with her red coat tightly wrapped around herself, her face was smug and so full of confidence while Ezra's face was consumed by fear but he was determined, she was not going to take away the one he loved, not again. As he squeezed the handle of the gun that was still in his pocket, she began to chuckle. Ezra had never see eyes like hers, everything else about her appearance was so very familiar, and yet the first time Ezra ever saw her eyes he felt like he was staring into an infinite emptiness. From behind Ezra suddenly felt a strong and firm hand on his shoulder and then a large, metal, object against the middle of his back, fear once again charge through him like a bolt of lightning.

"Slowly take the gun out of your jacket and place it on the ground, now Ezra." Said the man behind him with the familiar British accent. Ezra did as he was told, angry that he had been so stupid, of course she was not alone, she was never alone. Ezra did as he was told just as he always did as he was told. Tears started to wail up in his eyes, he could not go through this again, all the deception and all the lies, they were too much.

She walked toward him, her heels tapping the old wooden floors with every slow step. The grin on her face infuriated Ezra, it was as if she had won the game without even having to play. She got so close to him that he could feel her warm breath on his cold skin. She raised her hand to his cheek, gently gliding her long finger nails across his face as if she were trying to locate where all his fears were. Ezra quickly pulled his face away from her hand as if it were poison that was draining the life out of him.

"Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, the one who ruins all the fun. Did you really think that were we just going to quit? That we were just going to let everyone live happily ever after? Here the thing, Ezra, fairy tale endings don't happen in horror stories."

"I can't—I can't do this again. I have a family, please just let this go!" Ezra cried out wanting this to be over.

"Let this go?! Let this go!" She yelled losing the calm voice that she was previously using. She jabbed one of her bony fingers into Ezra's chest. "You! You took away the one thing that I was looking forward to! She was my sister!" She then regained her composer and lowered her voice to almost a whisper, but more of a hiss. "And if anyone was going to kill her it was going to be me."

"Im—im sorry, I've told you before I didn't mean to, I was just so angry, I saw red and- and- I-Tears were now streaming down Ezra face, unable to hold them back any longer. "I LOVED HER! And I thought….I saw her…but it was you. I THOUGHT SHE BETRAYED ME!" Ezra fell to the floor unable to stand, or think, or talk, or do anything other than cry.

"You, the silly little man child that you are, fell in love with a girl named Vivian Darkbloom." She said with a slight chuckle in her voice but also with a hint of disgust. "and then you went to visit the small town of Rosewood to visit her and you saw her with another man, a man named Ian Thomas. And being the heart broken bag of emotions that you were, you sat in the woods crying…..oh poor Ezra." She said now laughing at the mess that was Ezra, sitting on the floor hold his face in his hands.

"STOP, PLEASE." Ezra didn't want to hear any more of the story, he lived it every night in his dreams and hearing it from her face, it was too much. Ezra wanted to leave but Wren was still behind him with a gun pointed down at his back.

"Oh, no the stories has just begun. See Ezra, if you would have paid a little more attention to the hair you would have known it was me who was with Ian that night. But I guess not because you didn't know I existed, now did you? Luckily for me the night that you decided to confront "Vivian" on her indiscretions was also that night that I sent the very handsome Doctor I met in that God for saken hell hole of a mental institution, to do some checking up on my sis and he saw everything." At this she walked over to Wren and kissed him, as if it were a reward for seeing what he saw that night.

"You see Ezra, torturing my sister was a favorite pass time I had, I spent all that time in Radley thinking of ways I could make her life as miserable as she made mine. She was always the favorite, Mommy and Daddy loved her, tolerated Jason, and hated me. I was the one who they could never find time for, so they sent me away. And she always played the perfect daughter role, too but she was anything but perfect, she was just an evil bitch! When I broke out of Radley I was finally able to make her life hell and no one was going to stop me. That is until you killed her, you idiot!" She shout at Ezra. "But, what kind of person would I have been if that stopped me from having fun? And you know the rest don't you Ezra, you "randomly" bump into Aria, one of my sister's insufferable friends, at a bar, fall in love, happy, happy, happy. More people I could have done without get involved then stage a coup and once again everything is ruined! God, I hate when that happens!" She said angrily now staring out a nearby window. "But like I said before horror stories don't get fairy tale endings and I promise this one won't either." She hissed malevolently to no one in particular.

"I love Aria; I know I wasn't supposed to, I know it wasn't the plan but we have a life together now and real life and I can't hurt her again." Ezra said now standing up and drying the tears from his eyes.

She laughed as if someone had just told her the funniest joke. "Well, I think your love for Aria will fade away very soon."

"What?! What do you mean? I will always love her." Ezra said outraged at the thought of his love for Aria ever fading away.

She shook her head "Just go Ezra, go home to your perfect little life, in your perfect little world and shut out all the evil that lurks around the corner, while you still can anyway." She said with a sense of annoyance in her voice.

Once again Ezra did as he was told and walked towards the door.

"Wait." She said to him before he left looking down at the black gun still lying on the wooden floors. "Aren't you forgetting something?" She said nodding toward the gun.

Ezra looked at her questioning her intentions.

Wren still held his gun to Ezra's back as he walked over and bent down to retrieve the gun and put it back in his jacket pocket.

Ezra walked home knowing that this was not over, that he had went there to stop this and failed. It was a long walk home.


End file.
